Disclaimer: Refer to other chapters.
AN: Well that was a mighty long break, wouldn't you say? ^_^ I was so busy
going out with friends and working that I barely had time to type this!
Once again, such big hugs to my reviewers, you guys' support really keeps
me going.
Now, it's party time! Woohoo! Let's get this party started!
The Red Card
Chapter 16 - Lavatory Dispute
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"You want me to what?!!" Sango asked for the third time that
evening while lifting a cake out of the glass display. Kagome had asked her
to accompany her to Kagura's birthday, seeing as she really didn't want to
go alone.
Sango's eyes snapped shut while she thought intensely about this.
"I shouldn't Kagome...I'd feel out of place."
Kagome really didn't want to hear that. After all, who else could
she hide behind at the party if she were unlucky enough to run into
Inuyasha? "Please, Sango! It'll be great! Hojo's already agreed to come,
and there will be lots of people there, no worries! So please come?
Please?"
"I don't know ...I mean, I haven't even met this 'Kagura' person.
What if she doesn't like me? And what could I possibly give her as a
present?"
Kagome sighed and placed her hands together in a begging motion.
"Please Sango...we'll figure out a present for her together. Remember when
I went to that party at the Kioza Place and you said you really wanted to
go? Well, here's your chance to go and you're turning it down in a second!"
"But I..." She pulled out a white box and started wrapping up the
cake with a frown on her face. "I don't know about this..."
"NO BUTS, Sango! What's the worst that could possibly happen?"
She abruptly tied up the ribbon. "The place could burn down, the
cops could mistake us for criminals and shoot us all...I don't know,
Kagome! Anything could happen!"
Something was up. There was a reason why Sango kept making excuses,
and Kagome was pretty certain she knew why. "I think I know why you don't
want to go..." She smiled evilly and pointed at her friend, proud of
herself for figuring it out. "You don't want to go because you're too
embarrassed to see that Miroku guy again, aren't you?"
From the look on Sango's face, Kagome had hit the bulls' eye.
"Kagome...that isn't true at all and you know it! Miroku would never be
interested in me!"
"How would you know that? You two seemed pretty interested in each
other the last time you guys met." Kagome added, and patted her back
mentally when she saw Sango blush like a tomato. "Come on, Sango. We'll
dress you up all pretty so that he'll have to notice you, okay?"
"I..." Sango stood still, her eyes glued to the floor.
Kagome laughed with excitement and gave her friend a huge hug. "So
I'll take that as a 'yes'!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Her family was downright ecstatic at their daughter's announcement
of leaving to go to a 'party', as she liked to call it. Kagome's mom even
gave her the money to pick out a dress to celebrate the occasion, which was
pretty rare. At dinnertime, the families' questions never seemed to end.
"Inuyasha is going to be there, right, honey?"
"Are you wearing enough perfume, sweetie?"
"Don't worry about what time you come home!"
"Have fun with Inuyasha, Kagome!" Well, maybe that wasn't a
question, but she had enough questions herself about that comment. When had
she even mentioned having to do anything with Inuyasha? She said she was
going out to a party with the girls! It was obvious her parents only heard
what they wanted to hear come out of her mouth. And Kagome had easily
constructed an equation according to what they were plotting:
Their daughter + 'party' = one step closer to a bigger bank
account.
Sighing, Kagome waited outside in her simple black dress while
waiting for Sango to pick her up in her father's car. Hojo was going to be
finding his own ride there.
She glared down softly at the silver package in her hands. Sango
and her had taken hours to choose Kagura's present. Seriously, what does a
poor person give a rich girl who had pretty much everything? From teddy
bears to gift certificates, the two of them finally settled on buying her a
pair of fuzzy slippers with giraffe heads on them. It didn't make sense,
but they had been browsing in 'Wacky Tacky Gifts' just as the other stores
in the mall closed, so they just bought the least crazy thing there, along
with a 'Wacky Tacky' card.
Hopefully Kagura won't notice the '1.99' on the back of it.
"Hey Kagome! Get in the car already!" The small car pulled into her
driveway with the high beams on, and the windows were all rolled down.
Sango stuck her head out the passenger seat window, while stepping on the
brake roughly. "We're gonna be late!"
Kagome hurriedly made her way to the car before jumping into the
seat and throwing their present in the back. She casually turned to say hi
to her friend, but stopped when she saw what her friend was wearing.
Sango was wearing a short white dress with thin straps wrapped
tightly around her shoulders. She also had on quite a bit of makeup, well,
more than she normally wore, which was pretty much none. "SOMEONE'S dressed
nicely for Miroku..." She teased and brushed a loose piece of hair behind
her ear.
"You shouldn't talk." Sango snapped back jokingly while turning the
steering wheel. "I mean, look who's all dressed up for
Sesshoumaru...Kagome! What're you...no, don't! I'm driiivvviiinnnggg!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"I still can't believe you tried to strangle me while I was
driving! We could have gotten into a serious accident, Kagome! And if one
scratch was on the car I'd never be able to get my own car in the future,
let alone another allowance!" Sango didn't stop lecturing her once they had
finally parked the car across the street from Kagura's mansion. Kagome
didn't know why she got so pissed off, but that remark about Sesshoumaru
really got to her. What Sango said was true in some way...but she should
have known better. Sesshoumaru was into Kagura, and that fact would never
change.
"We're here." Kagome announced grimly as the doorman pulled open
the gates for them. "So please stop whining? I already said I was sorry."
Sango stared at her angrily. "I'm not nearly done yet. I - "
She finally paused when she took a clearer look, and both of them
stood wide-eyed at the scene before them. There must have been a hundred
men and women there, all holding crystal champagne glass in their hands,
and from the looks of their attire, they were probably a very wealthy
bunch. This all in front of Kagura's unbelievable mansion, which looked
somewhat like the white house, only smaller. But not too much smaller.
Strands of streamers in every colour imaginable dangled in the trees, their
colours beaming from the thousands of lights shining this way and that.
It was the most extravagant thing they'd ever seen.
"Holy...it's so gorgeous...I can't believe Kagura lives in a place
like this. Unbelievable." Kagome whispered, her eyes still entranced from
the brightness of it all.
Sango nodded lightly, her eyes just as entranced as Kagome's.
"You're not kidding. I think I even see some celebrities here...this
is...wow."
"Do I sense a magnificent beauty present?" A man's voice popped in
suddenly, startling the two of them from behind.
Kagome giggled to herself when she spotted Miroku joining them,
dressed up in an extremely classy tuxedo. Before Sango had time to react,
he had reached for her hand and planted a light kiss to the back of it.
Kagome wished she had a camera just then to take a picture of Sango, her
cheeks as red as the streamers just then. It would have been a great
blackmail picture...
Then Kagome remembered. "Miroku...is - um...Inuyasha here tonight?"
He reluctantly released Sango's hand, which was after practically
scowling at Kagome for ruining their perfect moment. "What did you want? Oh
yea...Inu's here. He's by the punch table if you wanna go see him."
'Completely the opposite. I want to stay as far away from him as I
possibly can!' Kagome nodded her thanks and started backing away from the
couple, yelling a quick 'bye Sango' before scattering away. Sango hadn't
even acknowledged her friend's departure, probably because at that same
time Miroku mumbled in her ear seductively, "Now where were we...hm?"
So many faces Kagome didn't recognise in the crowd...but after
secretly ducking behind a tree to spy on the punch table, her stomach went
on a mad flip-flop when there was no silver-hair jerk anywhere to be seen.
Where could he have gone...?
"Kagome! There you are! I was looking for you!"
Her legs gave out as Kagome collapsed into a mess on the ground at
the shock of Hojo's arrival. She had thought it was...never mind. He
quickly ran up to her side and helpfully lifted her up by the arms.
"Kagome, what happened?"
She laughed half-heartedly and smiled weakly. "Nothing, Hojo...I
don't know where that came from. Anyways, have you seen Inuyasha around
here anywhere?"
It was as if someone had slapped Hojo across the face, hard. His
face paled immediately and Kagome felt his grip go slack. "Kagome...I...I
don't understand - why would you want to see that guy? He's violent, he's
rude, and plus...he's way out of your league!"
"What do you mean by that?" She snapped suddenly. What was Hojo's
problem? She just asked where Inuyasha was...for heaven's sake!
He sighed and fiddled with his fingers nervously, too scared to
meet her gaze. "I mean...that's not what I meant, Kagome. He's rude to you,
and everyone else, yet you still like him! After he tagged you too!"
"Stop changing the subject." She grabbed his shoulder harshly and
asked, "I want to know why I'm out of his league."
"Kagome..." He paused. "You should know that he's one of the
richest people at our school, not to mention the most popular. And you are
one of the...less wealthy people, not to mention we're hated at school." He
explained wearily, lightly brushing off her hand from his shoulder. "You
should know that by now, and you...don't you know that it bothers people to
see you two together?"
It bothered people to see them together at school? Kagome wasn't
aware of that at all...sure, the girls all looked ready to strangle her
every time she talked to him, but that was all! And every time they DID
talk it usually led to an argument! "No, I didn't know that..."
"Well, it does, Kagome. And I thought I should be the one to tell
you that, seeing as I'm one of those people." He added sharply while
crossing his arms over his chest. What was his problem today? She'd never
seen him this emotional before.
"Hojo, I..." She'd tried to say, but he'd already whizzed around
and walked away from her in a fit. "You don't understand...I was looking
for Inuyasha to get angry with him..."
Wonderful...now both of her friends had ditched her. She had no one
left to hide behind if she were to see him. Kagome breathed a sigh of
tiredness and went to grab some punch to relax.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Oi! Miroku, Kouga, how dare you guys leave me!" Inuyasha grumbled
angrily and glared off at the massive amount of people in the crowd, a
punch glass in hand. His head hurt like hell today because he had insomnia
for the past two days, and he hadn't slept a wink. The thought of Kagome
always kept him awake, the guiltiness stung at him, and he wondered to
himself why she was nowhere to be seen at school either.
Sighing, Inuyasha took another glance around him. His friends both
seemed to have deserted him in the time they had arrived. Miroku left a
while ago to find his so-called, 'white angel', and Kouga went off joyfully
to flirt with all the beautiful women. "Fucking bastards...ditch me will
they?"
Actually, the real reason he preferred to keep his friends around
was so they could shield him from all those gold digger women, who enjoyed
pouncing on him every time he neared. Most likely because he was one of the
wealthiest bachelors in town, not to mention one of the very few whom
weren't balding quite yet.
As if on queue, a chesty brunette squeezed through all the people
and stood annoyingly in his path. "Good evening, Inuyasha sir," She held
out a hand politely, "My name's Judy and I just HAD to come over here to
introduce myself! Since you were, alone and stuff, I thought maybe we could
go grab a drink together?"
'My head hurts like shit right now, and I wish you would just piss
off and grab a goddamn drink alone!' Inuyasha thought and managed a weak
smile, speaking in his most sarcastic voice, "Well, nice to meet you too,
Judy. Now before we go grab a drink together, may I ask you something real
quick?"
She nodded in approval and stuck her hands on her hips, not able to
hold back the smile at the thought of how much further she had come with
Inuyasha compared to her friends.
"Of all the men here tonight, why did you choose to come ask ME for
a drink?"
The woman blinked blankly, and immediately covered it up with a
dense grin. "Why, you wouldn't make a girl tell you something like that,
would you?"
"Of course I would." Inuyasha retorted and smiled mischievously.
"Because...you're a very good-looking man, and I wanted to get to
know you better, that's why!"
"Well, thank you. You're a very attractive woman as well, but one
thing I don't understand. There are a fair number of male models and actors
here, whom are known all over for their looks. Did you introduce yourself
to them too, Judy?"
She stuttered and fumbled nervously with the sleeve of her shirt.
"Um...no...but I was planning to soon."
"Are you sure about that? It seems your friends Mandy, Christine,
Shannon, and Lindsay watching over there have all come up to only me too.
And none of them were able to answer that question."
And with that, he left a speechless Judy standing in the crowd
while he shuffled away. It wasn't that he wasn't interested in these good-
looking women, but it simply was because they were all the same. They
didn't care about him as a person, and they sure as hell didn't know him.
All they cared about was becoming his girlfriend to have access to an
unlimited bank account. Maybe that was why Inuyasha preferred to do the
chasing...but there wasn't much chasing to do.
Sipping the last bit of his drink, Inuyasha suddenly felt a sudden
urge to go to the bathroom. 'I gotta stop drinking all this punch...'
Now the question was, where was the toilet? Inuyasha tapped a
server with a moustache's shoulder and barked hurriedly, "Hey you, where
are the restrooms?"
The man looked pretty annoyed his rude remark, not to mention no
tip. "Enter the building through the third door from the left, then turn to
the right, and you'll see a pair of golden doors. Take the elevator to the
fifth floor, and turn right there, you'll see a vase, and then you turn
left, then right, then a left when you see the painting."
Inuyasha stared at him confusedly, "That's all, right?"
"No, sir. From there you enter the lobby section, and go up the
special set of stairs, turn left again, and you should reach Kagura's guest
restroom." He finished, and turned around to serve a group of girls.
Inuyasha mumbled his thanks and sped off at lightning speed, trying
to hold it in for as long he could while he jumbled the directions in his
head.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
This had to be one of the most boring parties in history. Not only
did Kagome not speak to anyone, she hadn't even seen the birthday girl yet.
She threw the present they had gotten for Kagura in the air and caught it.
"This is sooooo...boring."
All she had done after Hojo threw a fit at her was grab a seat next
to the punch table and drowned away her anger like crazy with the red
liquid. Which probably wasn't too smart, seeing as she now REALLY had to
go, bad.
Oh well...at least she'd have something to do.
"Hello! Sir!" Kagome waved her hand madly at a man with a
moustache, she guessed he knew where the restrooms were; after all, he was
serving drinks to some girls.
He turned around unimpressed, and rudely stared at Kagome. "What
would you like, miss?"
"Um...yea, where are the toilets?" She asked silently, hoping the
snobby guests wouldn't hear her question.
She swore she heard him grumble something in the words of, "Damn
teenagers...so rude." Before he gave her an astonishing set of directions
to Kagura's guest restroom.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"What the hell was he talking about? There are probably ten vases
here! And three paintings on this floor! Stupid..." Kagome trudged up the
set of stairs after she finally found the tiny lobby, feeling as if her
bladder was about to burst. 'I don't believe there's only one restroom in
this place...that server must really hate me or something.' She sighed.
"NOW WAS THAT RIGHT OR LEFT?!"
Deciding to take her chances, Kagome practically had to crawl to
her left, and would've jumped in joy if she could have when she spotted the
small washroom sign.
"YES!" She gasped as she ran towards the door, when she heard fast
footsteps speeding up behind her, until someone bumped into her and sent
her to the side.
"YES!" The man yelled in victory and flew towards the door. "I DID
IT! I'll kill that man if it kills me!"
Kagome's vision was so blurry now because she felt as if she was
going to pee her pants in approximately one second. "Wait! I was first!"
She jumped up and lunged at the man, grabbing his leg and pulling him to
the floor with her. After all, if she couldn't go, neither could he.
"What the...? Wench! Get off'a me! I REALLY have to go!
Wha?...Kagome?" That tone of voice. That language. It had to be none other
than him.
"Inuyasha? Wha-?" She sat up properly now and glared into those
golden eyes again. She was about to say something but that urge to go took
over her body again as she charged at her goal. "I GOTTA GO FIRST!"
"Oh no you don't!" He growled angrily and grabbed her foot, sending
Kagome back down to the floor with a huge bang. "I'll be going first, thank
you very much!" Inuyasha grinned, jumped up and ran towards the door.
"But I'll pee my pants if I don't go NOW!" She screeched and flung
her entire body at the racing boy.
He couldn't slam the door now because Kagome was latched onto his
waist. "AND I WON'T?"
"NO! I'll only be a sec!" She tried to squirm around him to get
into the single bathroom, but he figured out her trick and grabbed her in
return. "INUYASHA!!! I don't want to pee my pants here, okay?"
"Whatever, Kagome. I'm taking off my pants now and I'm going to
relieve myself. So if I were you I'd let go of me." He pushed past her
blushing self and stopped before the toilet before immediately starting his
business. "Ahhh..."
"NO FAIR!" She screamed, now completely unaware of her actions, she
threw herself into the room and slammed the door in frustration. "I was
supposed to go first...hey, you're taking too long! Hurry up!"
"Shut up!" He yelled back. "You'll get your stupid turn...and stop
staring at me. You're making me feel uncomfortable!"
"Who cares? Just hurry hurry hurry hurry hurry!"
Kagome nearly cried a tear of relief when she heard the toilet
flush. "Great! Now get out of here!" He walked over to the sink and turned
on the water while whistling.
"Hey!" She shouted, "What are you doing?"
"Washing my hands, what does it look like? That's what you're
supposed to do, you unsanitary girl!" He spat back, taking his sweet time
with drying his hands under the air dryer.
"THOSE DON'T EVEN WORK! GET OUT!" Kagome screamed, pointing at the
door. She was even tempted to just start he was being such a jerk.
"Alright. Alright." He pressed a hand to his forehead, a little
worried at the unusual temperature. Inuyasha turned the handle, only to
find that it was dead budged. "It's stuck."
"What do you mean it's stuck?" Kagome asked worriedly before
shoving him aside and trying it herself. "We locked ourselves in the
bathroom."
"Hey, leave ME out of this. You're the one who followed me in here
and slammed the door."
"What do we do? I HAVE TO GO! And there isn't even a bathtub for
you to hide in!" Kagome panicked, grabbing a fistful of her hair.
"Just go." Inuyasha stated, staring straight at her.
"PERVERT!" She threw the nearest thing possible at him, a glass
bottle of hand lotion.
He caught it without a glance and spun around to face the door.
"I'm not going to look. Eeesh!"
About to argue with that, Kagome decided to trust him this ONCE.
"PROMISE to not peek?"
"Oh for the love of - Kagome! I'm not dirty enough to spy on a girl
in the bathroom! Just go and shut up already!" He hollered from his
position facing the door.
"If you look, I'll kill you." She threatened and reached behind her
immediately to unzip her dress, letting it drop to the floor before adding,
"seriously."
Once she finished, she zipped up her dress quickly and washed her
hands. "Done. Wow."
"What does that mean?" Inuyasha snapped, turning back to face her.
"I'm just surprised you didn't peek or do anything else." She said
innocently, drying her hands on her dress.
Inuyasha felt his face go hot as he gave her a fearful stare. "Is
that what I am to you, Kagome? Some sort of pervert?" That thought really
hurt.
Kagome frowned and lowered her head. "No...but now that we're
serious again, I want you to apologize for what you did to me that night."
"I already did! And you still haven't forgiven me for it!"
"Why?" She breathed lightly, raising her head to give him a very
serious look. "Why...?"
"Why what?! Why did I do it? I already told you, I don't know, OK?
This discussion is over." He turned his attention back to the door handle
as he started fumbling with it again.
"No it isn't. Why did you change into a monster, Inuyasha?"
They were silent for a while, with only the sound of his doorknob
rattling in the air. Finally, he took in a deep breath of air and sighed,
"You wouldn't understand if I told you..."
"How would you know unless you try?" She challenged, desperately
wanting to find this out.
"You just wouldn't."
Kagome felt a little hurt at his immediate reply, sure, she wasn't
too bright, but she wasn't stupid! "We'll see once I hear it."
"Not only that, but you wouldn't believe it."
"Believe? What are we, talking about aliens and UFO's?" Kagome
joked teasingly, "What's there to believe?"
"Youkai." He answered grimly. "See...you wouldn't understand."
She just stared at him for a moment, trying to absorb this bizarre
piece of information. "So what you're saying is, you're a..."
"Hanyou." He said half-heartedly. "My father is a youkai, my
mother's human. He has a human appearance, so you wouldn't think that.
Nothing to worry about though, he's too into his business for anything
harmful."
"But...then the transformation?" She added, not sure if she is
swallowing this herself.
He sighed sadly and ceased the doorknob turning. "I don't really
know about that, to tell you the truth. But when I get really angered, my
youkai blood in me kind of loses it and makes me more powerful and more
aggressive. My mind is three-quarters controlled by this new power, so what
say I have is quite useless."
"You're serious about this, aren't you?" Kagome asked, hoping he
doesn't get too angry with her in this locked bathroom. That would NOT be
good.
"I swear on my family's grave. Dead serious." He assured, running
his hand through his long hair, sweat rolling down his face. "Shit, we're
really locked in. What the hell did you do?"
"Nothing! I just closed it! Hey, are you trying to change the
subject?" She questioned curiously, pointing a finger at him. She wasn't
done bothering him about this topic quite yet. "Why are you so sweaty? It's
not hot in here..."
"I'm fine...I...don't need - " Inuyasha was now stumbling to stay
awake, his lack of sleep was really making his mind go insane, and his
whole body ached with pains. "I'm not weak..."
As he said this, his body collapsed and rolled down onto the cold
floor. Inuyasha's face was steaming with sweat, and his eyes were closed as
he huffed in pain on his back.
"Inuyasha? Stop joking around. If you're just trying to get my
attention, you're being an idiot. Inuyasha?" She knelt down next to him and
placed her hand on his forehead.
"Inuyasha...? INUYASHA!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
AN: I am too mean. ^_^ I leave for a month and now I have a pretty intense
cliffhanger. Oh well! That's the fun with writing, you can torture your
readers this way, hahaha! Well, hope you guys enjoyed this pointless little
chapter; I was just making stuff up as I went along.
ATTENTION: I have a new fiction up. It's called "Pirate Pash", and I would
REALLY appreciate it if you guys all went to check it out sometime. ^_^
Summary: On the way home with her brother's medicine one evening, Kagome is
attacked and abducted by heartless pirates, and is sent to be killed by the
captain of the ship himself. Will Inuyasha be cruel enough to throw her off
the plank? AU IY/Kag
Well, hope you guys enjoy my two-chapter release!
*~Sorena~*